New Fellows will be introduced to the Academy November 19-21, during the 2008 Fall Meeting at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, DC.

"I commend Dean Straussman for his latest honor," said University at Albany Interim President George M. Philip. "Under his leadership, Rockefeller College serves as a standard of excellence in public policy research, teaching, and public service."

Straussman serves as the director of Rockefeller College's National Center for Security and Preparedness. The center supports the nation's efforts to be secure from acts of terrorism and to be prepared to respond to incidents of high consequence and disasters through research, education, training, and technical assistance. Straussman has also overseen the expansion of the Center for International Development, one of the nation's leading providers of international technical assistance and training.

Straussman's extensive record of research includes five books and numerous articles on public management, government budgeting and finance, and political economy, focusing on the United States and on governance in other nations. In 1992 he was a Fulbright Scholar at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences, where he taught public management and policy analysis and assisted Hungarian faculty in developing a public affairs department. Straussman has also taught and consulted in Macedonia, Israel, Venezuela, the Czech Republic, the Peoples' Republic of China, Bulgaria, Malaysia, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. He has published on the political economy of transition, including articles translated into Hungarian, Russian, and Ukrainian.

Straussman, a life-long resident of New York, completed his master's degree at Hunter College and earned a doctorate in political science from the City University of New York in 1975. He taught at Michigan State University before joining the Syracuse University faculty in 1979. At Syracuse, he served as chair of the Department of Public Administration as well as associate dean, among other roles. He was recognized for superior teaching in 1999, when he became the Maxwell Professor of Teaching Excellence. He was named dean of UAlbany's Rockefeller College in 2006.

Among its membership of more than 500 Fellows, the National Academy of Public Administration's business managers and executives, scholars, labor leaders, cabinet officers, members of Congress, governors, mayors, state legislators, and diplomats provide insight and experience as they oversee Academy projects and provide general guidance. Fellows are also the Academy's primary vehicle for addressing emerging issues and contributing to the intellectual and popular discourse on government. They also elect new members of the Academy each year.

The National Academy of Public Administration provides assistance in response to federal agencies, Congress, state and local governments, and other public institutions seeking solutions to short- and long-term challenges. Occasionally, private institutions have engaged the Academy to study public governance issues. Current areas of focus include budgeting and finance, alternative structures, performance management, human resources management, information technology, devolution, and strategic planning.

The core mission of Rockefeller College Public Affairs and Policy, ranked in the top 10 public policy schools in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, is to discover, communicate, and apply knowledge about governance and public policy, making democracy stronger and governments more effective around the world. The college accomplishes its goals through outstanding teaching and research and through a commitment to public service, directly helping public managers and policymakers deal effectively with the challenges they face.

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